Tax software keeps asking students: "Were you an exempt individual?" Almost nobody knows what that means. Here it is, without the jargon.
The IRS decides if you are a resident for tax purposes by counting your days in the US over 3 years. That count is called the Substantial Presence Test.
For students on F and J visas, some years simply do not count in that day count. The IRS calls a person whose days do not count an "exempt individual". A better name would be "days that do not count". That is all the word means.
You only need three facts. You can find all of them on your I-20 or DS-2019 and your I-94 travel history at i94.cbp.dhs.gov.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Find your first year | What was the first calendar year you were in the US on an F or J visa, even for one day? A calendar year counts whole, even if you arrived on December 30. |
| 2. Count your years | Count from that first year to today, one per calendar year, including years on any earlier F or J stay (a master's after a bachelor's, a second program, a J stay before an F stay, all of it goes in the same count for students). |
| 3. Compare with your limit | F-1 and J-1 students: your days do not count for your first 5 calendar years. J-1 teachers, researchers and trainees: your days do not count for 2 calendar years out of the last 6. |
If you are inside your limit this year, your days do not count this year, and you are a nonresident for tax purposes. If you are past your limit, your days start counting, and the 3 year day test decides.
Her years are 2023 (year 1), 2024 (year 2), 2025 (year 3). She is inside the 5 year limit, so none of her days count in the day test. For 2025 she is a nonresident: Form 1040-NR for her campus job, plus Form 8843. Nobody had to tell her the word exempt. She just counted 2023, 2024, 2025.
His 5 years were 2020 to 2024. In 2025 his days start counting for the first time. He was in the US most of 2025, so he passes the day test and is a resident for tax purposes for 2025. He files Form 1040, and FICA tax now applies to his wages. This is the change almost every long PhD program hits.
Check my years and days for me
Our checker never asks you if you were "exempt". It asks for your visa and your first year, counts your years the way this page does, and shows you the result with the numbers.